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Michelle wrote:

Hi, guys —

I was raised in a strict Catholic household growing up but at the age of 17 I got pregnant and ran away from home with my boyfriend. I am now 29 and we are married with three little boys.

My husband and I never married in the Church. Although we are both Catholic, he never made his First Holy Communion or Confirmation.

He knows I wish we could at least have our marriage blessed but he refuses because he says God saw us get married in the court. I have spoken with a priest about this because I wanted to go to Confession but he said I cannot be pardoned for my sins and he could not hear my Confession without at least having my marriage blessed.

For that reason, I can't go to Confession and I can't receive Holy Communion. This really bothers me and a lot of the other parishioners treat me differently. I feel like they wish I wouldn't go to church at all.

When my son made his First Communion they had to change the service up because they wanted all the families to receive Holy Communion with their child and since we couldn't receive Communion, the kids had to go 1 by 1. It really embarrassed me.

  • Am I supposed to just change religions because I can't change my husband's mind about having our marriage blessed?

Michelle
  { Since we married outside the Church and can't receive the sacraments should I change faiths? }

Fr. Jonathan replied:

Hi, Michelle —

Fr. Jonathan sent me the following reply:

Mike,

Tell Michelle to call her diocese and seek a sanation of the marriage.

This is assuming it is the first marriage for both of them and will painlessly solve her troubles.

Fr. Jonathan

For the Church, I apologize for the immature behavior on the part of some of our faithful. Catholics who attend Sunday, [and/or] daily Mass should always be empathetic to the spiritual journey others are on.

Mike

Michelle replied:

Mike,

Tell Fr. Jonathan I said thank you so much! I will give it a try.

Michelle
Please report any and all typos or grammatical errors.
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